【推荐1】Soccer is played by millions of people all over the world, but there have only been few players who were truly great. How did these players get that way — was it through training and practice, or are great players “born, not made”? First, these players came from places that have had famous stars in the past — players that a young boy can look up to and try to imitate. In the history of soccer, only seven countries have ever won the World Cup — three from South America and four from Western Europe. There has never been a great national team — or a really great player — from North America or from Asia. Second, these players have all had years of practice in the game. Alfredo Di Stefano was the son of a soccer player, as was Pele. Most players begin playing the game at the age of three or four.
Finally, many great players come from the same kind of neighborhood — a poor, crowded area where a boy’s dream is not to be a doctor, lawyer, or businessman, but to become a rich, famous athlete or entertainer. For example, Liverpool, which produced the Beatles, had one of the best English soccer teams in recent years. Pele practiced in the street with a “ball” made of rags. And George Best learned the tricks that made him famous by bouncing the ball off a wall in the slums(贫民窟) of Belfast.
All great players have a lot in common, but that doesn’t explain why they are great. Hundreds of boys played in those Brazilian streets, but only one became Pele. The greatest players are born with some unique quality that sets them apart from all the others.
1. According to the writer, which of the following statements is true?

A．Soccer is popular all over the world, but truly great players are few.

B．Millions of people all over the world are playing soccer, but only seven countries have ever had famous stars.

C．Only seven countries from South America and Western Europe have ever had national teams.

D．Soccer seems the least popular in North America and Asia.

2. The world “tricks” at the end of Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to ______.

A．experience	B．training
C．skills	D．cheating

3. The Brazilian streets are mentioned to show that ______.

A．a great soccer player may be born in a slum area

B．people in poor areas are born with some unique quality

C．children in poor areas start playing football at the age of three or four

D．famous soccer players live in slum areas

4. The writer mentions all the factors that may affect a soccer player’s success except ______.

A．his family background	B．his neighborhood
C．his character	D．his practice

【推荐2】Below is a web page from http://www.parents.com/

Kid of the Year Photo Contest

Enter your kid’s photo today and win! We’re giving away 52 weekly $250 prizes from Readers’ Choice votes. Plus, our editors will select one entry to win our grand prize of $7,000.

Official Contest Rules

No purchase necessary to enter or win. The Kid of the Year Photo Contest entry period begins at 12:00 a.m. January 23, 2022, and ends January 21, 2023 (the “Entry Period”). Entries must arrive by 9:00 p.m. on January 21, 2023 (“Entry Deadline”). Entries will not be acknowledged or returned.

SPONSOR: Meredith Corporation, 1716 Locust Street, Des Moines, Iowa.

ENTRY: There will be two methods of entry.

Share My Entry: Visit http://www.parents.com/photos/photo-contests-l/kid-of-the-year/ and click the button to enter.

Facebook Entry: Visit http://www.Facebook.com/ParentsMagazine and click the Kid of 2022 tab.

Then complete the registration form and follow the instructions to upload one album of up to six photos of your child aged three months to eight years. You may provide one description and one album title that will be applied to all photos. Photos, without any brand names or trademarks, must be taken by participants, non-professional, unpublished and may not have won any prize or award. Photos must be .jpeg or .bmp image formats and cannot exceed 3 MB.

This promotion is in no way sponsored, supported or run by, or associated with Facebook. You are providing your information to Parents Magazine and not to Facebook. The information you provide will only be used to run the promotion and register for Parents.com.

Photos must not contain material that infringes the rights of another, including privacy, publicity or intellectual property rights, or that constitutes copyright violation.

LIMIT: One entry per household, per child, per week. One weekly prize per child. For entries of more than one child in a family, the entry process must be completed separately for each child. No group entries.

1. What can we learn about the contest?

A．The editors of the contest will decide who will win the 20,000 dollars in prizes.

B．You should buy something first before you enter the contest.

C．You should send your entry before 9:00 p.m. on January 21, 2022.

D．Your entry will not be returned even if you don’t win the contest.

2. To enter the contest, photos must ________.

A．contain brand names or trademarks	B．be taken by non-professional participants
C．have won some prize or award	D．contain parents’ personal information

3. What does the underlined word “infringes” mean?

A．Grasps.

B．Obtains.

C．Violates.

D．Cheats.

4. Linda, a mother with seven-year-old twins, wants to enter the contest. She must ________.

A．provide a description and an album title for the kid’s photos

B．go to Meredith Corporation to fill out the registration forms

C．complete the entry process separately for each of her kids

D．provide the information to Facebook if she chooses Facebook Entry

5. What is the main purpose of the passage?

A．To advertise the website Facebook.com.

B．To encourage parents with children to enter a photo contest.

C．To introduce two methods of entering a photo contest.

D．To attract photographers’ interest in a photo contest.

【推荐1】Wearing ties was originally the mark of Britain's most powerful classes, which made the tie itself a symbol of power and respect. And that led it to be adopted by a much larger tribe—the business tribe.

You cannot wear a tie if you work with machinery. So wearing a tie became a sign that you were a man who     used your brain to make a living, rather than your hands. It showed you were serious. It showed you were a          professional. It meant that everyone who wanted a job in business had to wear one. It was just impossible to take   seriously a man who didn't wear a piece of colored silk around his neck. This is how millions of people came to be wearing ties across the world. They are part of the uniform of business.

“Ties offer a point of indifference,” says John Milne, head of the British Guide of Tie Makers. “They give a chance to say something about their own personality.”

So if you happen to meet a man with a very brightly colored tie, there is a good chance that he is the office joker. There is also a good chance that he will be wearing brightly colored socks.

Is there a future for ties? The signs are not promising. Tie wearing seems to be rare among the new bread of   entrepreneurs(企业家) in the Internet and new technology industries. Many political leaders, including British Prime Minister Tony Blair, now go without ties. This shows they are men of the people—but not the people wearing ties.

Up until around 1960, it was common for men across the Western world to wear hats as part of their business   uniform. That changed with the election of John F. Kennedy to the presidency of the United States. Kennedy never wore a hat in fact his nickname was “hatless Jack”. Seeing that the most powerful man in the world did not have to wear a hat, millions of other men decided that they did not have to, either. Hats simply vanished across the Western world. Perhaps “tieless Tony” (UK Prime Minister Tony Blair) will have the same effect as “hatless Jack”．

1. In Britain, ties were first used as a sign to show a person’s ________.

A．Personality	B．job
C．social position	D．favorite hobby

2. In the business world, wearing a tie was necessary because________.

A．it showed you were a brain worker

B．it showed you got a good salary

C．it showed you were an employer

D．it showed you were well-trained

3. The writer may hold the opinion that________.

A．Blair is the best leader in the world

B．Kennedy is the best leader in the world

C．millions of people will go to work without a tie

D．people will wear hats instead of ties

4. The underlined word “vanished” in the last paragraph may mean________.

A．Sold	B．washed
C．Disappeared	D．appeared

【推荐3】Valcamonica has one of the largest collections of rock drawings in the world. There have been about 200,000 figures and symbols carved into the rocks over a time period of approximately 8,000 years. Valcamonica's pictures show various scenes and are connected through common themes like magic, war, navigation and agriculture.

The rock drawings discovered in Valcamonica were the first prehistoric symbols of their kind recognized anywhere in the world. UNESCO first recognized the drawings in 1979 when about 140,000 were discovered, however, since then many more have been uncovered.

These drawings are spread all across the valley. The carvings began to taper off during the Iron Age and fewer appeared after that. The last period has been attributed to (归功于……) the Camunni people. Still there are drawings that have been identified as being from the 19th century. Many of these were created using the technique of engraving (雕刻).

Some of the figures discovered in Valcamonica have been superimposed (叠印) without any order, but in most cases they appear in logical orders and also explain the relationship between each picture or symbol to tell a story.

The first known modern report of the rock carvings was in 1909 when Walther Laeng happened upon two decorated rocks in Capo di Ponte. Scholars only took interest in the drawings in the 1920s. More rocks with engravings were soon found in the areas nearby and research into their history began. In the 1930s comprehensive study campaigns were undertaken.

It was after the Second World War that the cataloging and mapping of the engravings began. This task was taken up by various teams of experts from Italy and other countries that were led by Laeng. In 1955 preservation work on the rocks began.

In 1968, a large series of conferences were held where scholars from all over the world met to discuss the rock drawings, which give us some idea of what various societies of the past might have been like.

1. What do we know about Valcamonica's pictures?

A．They tell a long whole story.

B．They are interrelated in some ways.

C．They were carved 8,000 years ago.

D．They were first discovered in 1979.

2. The underlined part “taper off” in Paragraph 3 can best be replaced by “________”.

A．turn up

B．go up

C．die out

D．stand out

3. What is Paragraph 5 mainly about?

A．The history of the rock drawings.

B．The features of the rock drawings.

C．The discovery of the rock drawings.

D．The formation of the rock drawings.

4. Studies of the rock drawings ________.

A．show us the development of art

B．started after the Second World War

C．were conducted by scholars from UNESCO

D．help us know something about societies of the past

【推荐3】Once it was aired on the Chinese online video platform, the Longest Day in Chang' an, a high-quality detective thriller web series, became an audience favourite. Set in Chang' an, China's ancient imperial capital and the world's most magnificent metropolis during the Tang Dynasty, the 48-episode series revolves around how detective-turned-prisoner Zhang Xiaojing and Li Bi, head of Chang'an's anti-terror department, teamed up to stop a terrorist attack on the eve of the Lantern Festival. The events in the drama series take place within a span of 24 hours.

Shot in the ancient Chinese city of Xi' an in Shaanxi Province, this popular TV drama has made the city a tourist hot spot. Thousands of tourists have been flooding into this city to experience the magnificence and glory of its scenic spots that have been portrayed in a fascinating manner in the TV serial. "In the first week of this month, online enquiries about flight ticket bookings to Xi'an recorded a 130-percent year-on-year peak," said Ctrip, China's largest online travel agency.

“Xi'an had been a hot tourist destination long before the TV drama became popular. The serial portrays the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty of Xi' an. This has made the city even more popular. The media exposure makes those sites attractive choices for vacations,” said a senior director at Ctrip.

It's not just Xi'an that is reaping the benefits of exposure via mass media contents. Suzhou, Chongqing and Bayanbulak Grassland have also become go-to destinations for domestic tourists as films such as Pegasus and TV dramas such as All Is Well were set or shot there. This trend of Chinese tourists flooding in places featuring in entertainment is extending to even destinations abroad. Thailand, Japan, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic and Iceland have shone as tourist destinations among Chinese travelers, especially the younger lot, thanks to films and TV dramas that were shot there, Ctrip found.

Those born in the 1980s account for 32 percent of Chinese travelers. Those born in the 1990s and 2000s make up for 27 percent and 13 percent, respectively, according to Ctrip.

“They are the main viewers of some popular shows. They pay attention to the beautiful scenery as highlighted in entertainment shows. Combined with the impact of top stars in such shows, their fans would like to go on trips to those places. Some even travel while shoots at such places are on,” Ctrip introduced.

1. What can we know from the passage?

A．People like to travel to famous cities for sightseeing.

B．Large cities tend to be the shooting places of films.

C．Xi'an is the hottest tourist spot since the shooting.

D．Tourism in Xi'an developed faster for media exposure.

2. Which of the following destinations is NOT popular for mass media exposure?

A．Suzhou.

B．Chongqing.

C．Bayanbulak Grassland.

D．Zhangjiajie.

3. Who make up the majority of the travelers?

A．Young people.

B．Old folks.

C．Film shooters.

D．Top stars.

4. Which of the following sentences can best summarize the whole article?

A．China is heavily dependent on tourism promoted by films and TV dramas.

B．Tourist industry needs films and TVs to publicize it.

C．Shooting places of some popular dramas boost tourism.

D．Popular TV dramas lead to Xi'an's tourism development.